Fast-paced and plot-focused.
After Thunderstone (2013), Jeni and Ice find themselves up against hostile supernatural forces again, this time from Celtic legend.
Jeni, a white teen, has tried to research her heritage and learn about her spiritual abilities, but her debilitating nightmares have caused her to put the project on hold. Jeni’s strange experience with a rock near an old church sends up all kinds of red flags for her boyfriend, Ojibwe apprentice medicine man Ice, and his mentor, Nik. Then Ice vanishes just before he’s supposed to join Jeni and her family on a riverboat cruise. With the help of her skeptic cousin Tyler and Dale, another spiritually gifted contact of Nik’s (though of Irish rather than Native heritage), Jeni investigates the church and stone, stumbling right into the old Irish story Deirdre of the Sorrows. But physically rescuing Ice won’t be enough to counteract the powerful geis that’s been laid on him. There’s plenty of Midwestern local flavor from the settings—including an encounter with real-life urban explorers—that give a realistic weight, especially needed as Jeni rapidly gains huge abilities in a hurry for the final showdown once her enemy’s identified (after a predictable twist). Pietron takes care to correct some of the flaws of the earlier book, giving Ice a specific tribal affiliation, though the authenticity of the book’s mythos is still suspect.
Fast-paced and plot-focused. (Paranormal suspense. 12-adult)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9916021-3-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scribe
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy.
A war between gods plays havoc with mortals and their everyday lives.
In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world.
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-85743-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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